Lo and Behold, They Fixed the Door!!!

Have I mentioned lately that I love my boys?!!  Better yet, have mentioned how I am both in awe and extremely amused at how their little minds function?

Tonight those little brains outdid themselves yet again.  Daddy was gone tonight for a work function, so it was just the little guys and I.  I have to admit that by 7:00, my fuse was pretty short.  Okay, it was non-existent.   I was actually ready to put the boys down to bed at 6:00-ish, but I decided that putting supper in their bellies before bed would be a good idea.  Not that I was feeling oh-so nurturing; My motives were more self-serving than that. It was more like I was thinking that if I didn't put food in their tummies then they would surely awaken me even sooner than their regular 7am, on the dot, wake-up call.  So, as usual, I fed them.

The boys' non-stop silly antics at dinner made it abundantly clear that 7pm was going to be the bedtime of choice tonight. An hour earlier than usual.  It was for the good of everybody in the house.  And mostly for my sanity. 

So, as I was cleaning up the kitchen and yelling...I mean gently instructing my children to get their playroom cleaned and pjs on, I was keeping my eye on the clock, ready to wisk the boys upstairs as soon as the last dish made it into the dish washer to make my 7pm goal.  I was right on track, too! Playroom was clean (enough) and one boy was in his pjs and another on his way.  Alright! Bed, here we come, and we are all still in one piece.  Victory!

As I called to Seth from the kitchen to come into the living room so I could dress him, I found him sitting in the floor by the playroom door in deep concentration, surrounded by a plethora of toy tools. 

Oh no!  Another mess!  And it is 6:50!!  My goal!  My sanity! Deep breath, Amy. 

It took me a minute to figure out that Seth hadn't just dragged out a pile of tools to play or drive me crazy; He was actually being productive!  I decided to take a seat on the couch and watch him in action...and let go of my 7pm bedtime dream.

For quite a while, our playroom door has had a little hinge problem that makes it difficult to close. We just haven't gotten around to fixing it and since we usually leave that door open, I usually just forget that it needs attention.  It doesn't really impact my day in any way, so that means it gets to sit on the back burner for who knows how long.

However, my two year old has been quite troubled that the door does not close smoothly.  He just noticed it this week. Actually, Seth has just become obsessed with doors in general over the past week.  On Thursday, he became fascinated by the fact that he could turn the knobs on the doors and LOCK them.  This was the coolest thing to him! He then proceeded to amuse himself by locking every door upstairs and then shutting them.  This meant that Mommy had to play McGyver with a credit card and spend twenty minutes trying to jimmy the locks open.

He did it again today.

I am getting pretty handy with a credit card.  It is actually a little scary how easy it is to unlock a door with a credit card.

But I digress.  Back to the playroom door.  Seth has brought its questionable functionality to my attention two or three times this week, but I have given him the same answer each time.  It is actually the answer I give to anything that finds itself broken in this house.  "Daddy will fix it."
That usually satisfies the boys and they move on.

Well, I guess Seth was NOT satisfied and frankly, gave up on Daddy fixing the door. (Actually, in Daddy's defense, I don't think I actually informed him that the door needed to be fixed.)  Doesn't matter now, because Seth decided to take matters into his own hands.   He aligned the hinge and put the dangling screws back in place.  Then he used his toy screw driver to tighten them and then pounded them with the hammer, as a finishing touch.  And the best part, after all of the handy work, the door actually closes!  I didn't do a thing.  I just watched my little guy work, with the patience that God granted because I was fresh out.

I am humbled by how our God chooses to bless us, even on those evenings when our patience is as thin as a tissue and our voices are louder than they should be.

Of course, big brother had to get in on the action, too.  He broke out the sander, because everybody knows that you must sand down those hinges to get them to function just right.

Seth's concentration, work face....and his concentration, frustrated, work face.  I only wish I had gotten a picture of the little tongue that tends to protrude out of all three Workman boys when they are concentrating on a project.  By the way, builders in this house are not required to wear pants.

This is the "construction sign" that Caleb put up to show that work was being done.  Also, notice the tie downs that Caleb rigged up all over the place to denote it was a worker's area.  (but please ignore all of the laundry my kids are sitting in. It is a laundry night here.)

Viola!!

And the boys were still in bed before 8!! Woo Hoo!  It was a victory for all!